Thursday, 27 November 2008 Design Futures - Conclusion

I have to admit this project has defiantly opened my mind. If you had mentioned the terms 'Wikinomics' or 'Prosumers' to me six weeks ago I would probably have replied, 'No I don’t have a Tesco Value card'.
I have heard the theory that the next wars with be fought silently in virtual worlds where the general public are unaffected until the final outcome has been reached.This now seems much less sci-fi when I contemplate the fact that up until the time I started this project I was totally oblivious to a worldwide revolution happening all around me in both the 'real' and 'online' world.
A whole new wave of thinking and decision-making is flooding the gates of mainstream bureaucracy and established co corporations can no longer afford to dismiss it as amateur idealism.
'Were going Web 2, like it or not.'

It’s a revolution from the bottom up with the implementation of true democracy. People are quite literally on mass 'taking the power back'.
No doubt there are downsides. Purists of past doctrines will argue that this is all leading to mindless chaos with absolutely no direction.
Everybody does has a choice to make – embrace the future, create and discover, help shape the future world that we all live in or, bury your head in the sand and moan about how you used to once buy music from an established high street corporation who could dictate what and when you should listen too - 'oh, the good old days!'

But its not just a music industry revolution, this affects every branch of our society and has already seeped its thinking into “conventional” bureaucracy – example - 'Marketocary' and more importantly the seed has been set for a policy of open source government which for me would summons the end of the revolution and the start of a new era.
No longer would politicians fall into government because they are 'a part' of a political party. Elected representatives would be individually selected by their personal merits alone, leading to a government body consisting of the very best pool of talent available.
'Teamwork succeeds private effort'.

Although partially conducted in a virtual world, this revolution is very real and if an industry refuses to compile it will inevitably fail.
The music industry is at the front line of this revolution and most adapt if it’s current embodiments are to have a future role.
As Bod Dylan would say 'The Times They Are A-Changin'
Open source is far from the seedy undercurrent, which was once related to it by the established hierarchies. FightAids@home is one example of how mass collaboration through the Community Grid system is working on making the world more efficient.

This is a move towards a world where it is harder to hide but it's also a move towards a better educated world where propaganda and dictatorship is much more difficult.

I for one am ready to embrace. The choice is yours.